Showing posts with label JRR Tolkien. Show all posts
Showing posts with label JRR Tolkien. Show all posts

Apr 7, 2012

Links that have me pondering for half a day

or possibly longer.

I blame Jonathan Strahan who signal boosted Catherynne M. Valente’s post which led to much goodness.

So Catherynne wrote a post:

Let Me Tell You About the Birds and the Bees: Gender and the Fallout Over Christopher Priest

If you are tired of the whole Priest debacle, the post is less about him and more about the community’s reaction to him and how, that if he was a woman, he’d have been threatened with violence and rape.

The comments are worth reading and the inevitably clueless man turns up and even been schooled by Cat and then Scalzi doesn’t seem to shift him.

Catherynne linked to Requires Only Hate by acrackedmoon as an example of a woman who is constantly on the receiving end of misogynistic hatred for her no hold bared takedowns of SF&F sacred cows.  Peter Watts called her a rabid animal.

I discovered a new term Neckbeard:

Neckbeard - Talkative, self-important nerdy men (usually age 30 and up) who, through an inability to properly decode social cues, mistake others' strained tolerance of their blather for evidence of their own charm.

Which had me in stiches, because it’s spot on.

acrackedmoon’s post Lord of Neckbeards – Tolkien rape/suicide/pedestal watch challenged me as a fan of Tolkien and gave me a new perspective.  It’s well worth a read. 

acrackedmoon then linked to  How to be a fan of problematic things which should help you come to terms with having your literary or genre darlings criticised.

Say goodbye to a couple of hours, if you follow the links.


More trumpet blowing from me:

I have been nominated to run in this years fan fund for the National Science Fiction Convention to be held in Melbourne.

If you appreciate the work that I do in Australian Speculative Fiction Fandom and you have a spare $5, you can vote for me here and help send me to the National Conference


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Oct 10, 2011

The Dangers of Book Hunting

2011-10-10 17.02.38Today I ventured north in my hunt for books, to the metropolis at the centre of the Iron Triangle known as Port Pirie. Famous for being South Australia’s first proclaimed provincial city its also well known for lead dust contamination in its populace. 

Fear not, I braved the threat of colica pictonum and was justly rewarded with this wonderful 2nd hand purchase from Meg’s Bookshop. 

They have only just recently started their second hand service, diversifying (like many independents).  They have a good reputation locally as a an independent bookseller and that was evident in the service I received today.

The proprietor was even keen to spend time discussing the downfall of Red Group and the state of the market.  I came away from this jaunt feeling like I could go back and merely enjoy the browsing.

I have no trouble recommending them, for their service and events.  Recent author appearances have been Emily Rodda, Matt Reilly, & Fiona McIntosh.


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